Lucid
Lucid is an American surrealist indie game developed by Oni Games. The game is based on lucid dreaming, which is a state where the dreamer has control over their own dreams, as well as an older idea of one of the developers called "Dreamland". Gameplay Lucid is an exploration game, meaning all of the gameplay revolves around wandering the world and finding things to interact with. For the most part, the game features tank controls, though in some areas the controls change quite a bit, such as parts where the game suddenly becomes a side-scroller rather than an over the shoulder perspective. The game's main element is randomization, where each playthrough features a completely different map layout from others. The only consistent element is that the player will always start inside the dream version of the main character's bedroom. Other than that, there are no set rules when it comes to the world generation, meaning the door of the bedroom could lead into a kitchen, a jungle, or just a hallway. Once the game is complete, the player is able to explore the real world and interact with the real world people who inspired the people in the main character's dreams. The game doesn't have any voice acting, instead featuring text boxes over animated characters, much like many older video games. Plot A young girl named Nemo (meaning nobody) wakes up in a world that "only exists when she is dreaming" and begins exploring with no set direction or motive. Along the way, Nemo encounters many different odd and disturbing characters. Characters *'Nemo' - the main character who never speaks through most of the game until the final scene. Nemo is a young girl with long blue hair that covers her eyes and begins the game wearing a sweater with a heart on it and sleeves so long they partly cover her hands. The ending of the game reveals Nemo to be a nickname and that her real name is Bailey. *'Smiley' - a character who is very hard to get a good grasp on. Smiley serves as a narrator of sorts, introducing Nemo and the player to most things in the game. He wears a suit, top hat, and a yellow paper mask with a smile on it. He is also abnormally tall and has very long fingers. *'Red Wolf' - a flaming wolf who is shown to be a vicious predator. *'The Alien' - a green alien who can be found in a crashed spaceship. If the player helps him repair his spaceship, he allows the player to travel to other planets. *'The Gaping Mouth '- a race of strange white creatures with long necks and large mouths with sharp teeth. They serve as the main enemy through the game. *'Rebecca' - a young girl who appears in a few areas throughout the game. She is far younger than most characters in the game and sometimes sends Nemo on a mission. *'Miss Terry' - a beautiful figure who secretly eats people, being dressed in all black. *'Bruno '- the shopkeeper of the town who is a very jolly man and is incredibly large and strong. If the player attempts to leave without paying him, Nemo will not be allowed in his shop again. *'The Horde' - a nightmarish creature made out hands, feet, and heads. *'Nick Nack' - a collector who will pay Nemo a certain amount of money for anything she delivers to him for his collection. *'The Eyeless Weaper '- the main enemy in Sub-Dream who is a blue humanoid that has no eyes and is crying from their sockets. *'Hiroyo Oni' - the mascot of Oni Games who can be found in the town. She says nothing and does nothing but blankly stare at Nemo and is mostly just a cameo. * Event Characters Event characters are characters in the game that only appear when they are triggered by something. *'Bad Smiley' - an event character triggered by angering Smiley at any point in the game. Bad Smiley removes his mask, revealing a gaping mouth instead of a face and begins chasing Nemo. *'Yzorth' - a demonic demon who is triggered by throwing a rock at a certain lake. It has a twisted smile on its face and attacks the player. *'Toilet Hand' - a literal hand in a toilet who is triggered by flushing a full roll of toilet paper down a toilet. They are a very odd character, speaking in broken English and rarely making sense. They are a reference to the hand in the bathroom from the Legend of Zelda. *'Sub-Nemo' - a version of Nemo that can only be encountered in Sub-Dream. Sub-Nemo is triggered by attempting to fall asleep while already in Sub-Dream. They are a distorted version of Nemo that slowly follows them, suddenly teleporting every so often. They have their own game over screen where one of Sub-Nemo's fingers slowly approaches Nemo's eye. * Real World Characters Characters that only appear in the real world. *'Ma' - Nemo’s mother who is mainly shown as a silhouette. *'Father' - Nemo's father whose face is never seen until the end. Until the end, he is a mild antagonist of Nemo. * Locations Bedroom The starting point of every playthrough. In the dreaming world, the bedroom is very well-kept and features many different things for the player to entertain themselves with. The objects the player can interact with include a toybox, which will trigger a cutscene where Nemo plays with her toys depending on which one is taken out. If the doll is taken, she will have a tea party, if the dinosaur is taken she will pretend a soldier toy is fighting it, and if the plane is taken she will toss it in the air in an attempt to make it fly. Another object is the closet, where the player can change Nemo's outfit. The final object is the bed itself, which Nemo will refuse to sleep in until the player finishes the game. Once the player does, Nemo will finally fall asleep in her bed, which will cause her to wake up in the real world, revealing her real bedroom is a mess, with a small TV that shows nothing but static. The Town One of the main locations in the game, the town is made up of a large number of buildings and is surrounded by a forest. The town is the first location generated outside of the bedroom and is the first place Nemo meets Smiley. The town consists of an inn, a shop, a petting zoo, and quite a few houses. At the inn, Nemo can sleep and enter Sub-Dream, at the shop, Nemo can buy things (mostly sweets), and at the petting zoo, Nemo can interact with animals. Sub-Dream Sub-Dream is a world below the world. Nemo's dreamland is a representation of her sub-conscious and Sub-Dream is the representation of everything below that. Sub-Dream is depicted as a terrifying distortion of the normal world featuring characters and creatures that are the living embodiments of some of Nemo's worst fears. Mars TBA Pluto A very small location that has nothing on it but a few rocks Nemo can pick up, a blue tree, and a sign under the tree which reads "I am not a planet". Venus TBA Trivia *